A taxicab driver who was shot dead in Gretna during what police suspect was an attempted robbery reached for his own revolver after hearing one of the two gunmen in the back seat rack the slide on a pistol, a suspect in the case told police. Glenn's Cab Service driver Blake Helmer, 55, of Westwego didn't have a chance.

"He never shot his weapon," Gretna police detective Jerry Broome testified Tuesday, during a hearing in the 24th Judicial District Court. Jonah Brown, 17, of Westwego began shooting from the passenger's side of the back seat, striking Helmer several times before he and his two alleged cohorts ran from the Rupp Street crime scene into neighboring Algiers, Broome said. No money was taken, the detective said.

Broome said he based his testimony on statements made by Ivory Warren of New Orleans, 18. Warren, whose father is a New Orleans police officer, along with Brown and Tavon Corley, 19, of Algiers, were arrested within hours of April 29 shooting. Warren told police that only he and Brown got into the cab.

In what Broome called "a dying declaration," Helmer told a police sergeant and emergency medical technicians that "he was shot by two black males," the detective testified. Helmer died at a hospital, police have said. Corley told police he was present but did not get into the cab, Broome testified.

Brown and Corley appeared in court Tuesday for a probable cause hearing requested by the Jefferson Parish public defender's office. After hearing Broome's testimony, Commissioner Paul Schneider found that police have enough evidence to continue holding Brown in jail on a charge of first-degree murder, and Corley on a charge of being an accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.

Corley was present when the call for a cab, Broom said. "He hid with them. He ran with them," Broome testified. "He obviously knew what was going on."

Warren also is jailed, booked with first-degree murder, but he was not in court Tuesday. His probable-cause hearing is scheduled later this month, records show.

The investigation is continuing. Assistant District Attorney Ken Bordelon gave no indication of which charges his office will seek in the case. Prosecutors must present murder charges to a grand jury.

Annie Jane Laurence, a public defender who sought Tuesday's hearing for Brown, said that under a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Brown is immune from the death penalty because he was 17 years old at the time of the crime. Warren is eligible for that punishment, if convicted of first-degree murder, because he turned 18 on the day of the crime.

Warren admitted he, too, was armed with a semiautomatic pistol, and that he fired it once as he was getting out of the cab, Broome testified. Warren described it as "an accidental discharge," Brooms testified.

Police found three 9mm bullet casings, two on the street and one in the cab, and one .45-caliber casing in the street, Broome said. Police also found two pistols discarded near a unit in the Fischer public housing development in Algiers, near clothing that Warren and Corley are accused of discarding as they fled police.

Sheriff's Office forensic scientists are still analyzing the evidence, including fingerprints lifted from the pistols, and determining whether the recovered guns fired the bullet casings at the crime scene, Broome testified.

Broome testified he was already near Rupp and Franklin Avenue in Gretna, when a Rupp Street resident called 911 reporting the gunfire. "Within a minute," Broome said, he turned onto Rupp and saw Corley running. Another Gretna officer, Russell Lloyd, was chasing Brown and Warren, Broome testified.

Brown ran to the end of Rupp and crossed a drainage canal that separates Gretna from Algiers, Broome testified. "As he was getting out, he was covered in mud, fleeing down the street," Broome testified.

Broome said Brown left behind wet, muddy footprints that helped pinpoint his location. Police found Brown under a house near Hendee and Thayer streets in Algiers, Broome testified.

Warren and Corley, meanwhile, fled on Burmaster Street, which turns into Gen. de Gaulle Drive in Algiers. They ran into the Fischer development, Broome testified. A Gretna crime camera on Burmaster recorded two men running, but their faces could not be identified, Broome testified.

Warren said he and Corley fled to Corley's home at 1918 Bodenger Blvd., in Algiers, where a New Orleans police SWAT team later converged with the arrest warrants, Broome testified. Warren said he was scared and so hid in the attic with Corley when the police showed up, the detective said.

Warren's father, the New Orleans police officer, later turned his son and Corley into the Gretna Police Department, Broome said. Corley said he was either walking to or from his father's house when the crime happened, but police have not been able to determine where Corley's father lives, Broome testified.

Warren said Brown called for the cab and shot Helmer, the detective said. Detectives retrieved a mobile phone that was broken. The caller identification feature at Glenn's Cab Service was not functioning, however, and a recording of the caller's voice has not been linked to anyone, Broome testified.